This has been a horrible year for ants.
Beneath our plum tree is a very active anthill with tiny little sugar ants. They looove plums, apparently. That one we can't do too much about, as any chemicals used to eradicate them would eventually wind up in the fruit. So, while harvesting the fruit we must stomp our feet to keep the little buggers from crawling all over us.
We also have a red ant hill which the boys know to stay away from, as bites from those ants will make you miserable for hours.
But this was our first year to have large black ants in our yard.
Judah, boy that he is, has a 'pet' black widow which lives on a web on the fence in our front yard. He routinely catches bugs which he then goes and 'feeds' to the black widow, by sticking them carefully in the web so that the black widow will come out and wrap 'em up for later.
One day he came running in the house, shaking his hand wildly and saying, "Ow! Ow! It hurts so bad!"
"What hurts?" I asked, thinking it was probably a splinter or thorn from something out back.
"Da black ant bit my thumb!"
I examined his thumb, and sure enough, it looked as though two small rows of teeth had clamped on the pad of his thumb pretty good, though for his sake I was glad there was no blood.
"Well, how did the ant get on your thumb?" I asked, wondering.
"I picked it up to put it in my jeep (to take around to the black widow, I'm guessing), and he bit me!"
Well what did he expect, lol?
:: :: :: ::
The other day, Jeff took the boys into a local fast food restaurant that had an attached playground.
As they walked inside, the place was packed and there was the usual hum of chatter, particularly from a table filled with young teen girls near the door.
Jeff said he knew the moment Jericho had finally made it through the doors, because the conversation from the girls table stopped suddenly as they turned to watch the cute teenage boy walk past their table.
Totally oblivious to and unaffected by such things still, Jericho called out, "Hey, Dad...can I take Judah to the playground?"
Uh huh. Yeah, sure, Jericho...Judah wants to go to the playground, lol.
:: :: :: ::
While in a bookstore the other evening, we picked up a cute Little Golden Book for Judah called, Doctor Dan The Bandage Man.
It's a cute little story originally put out in the 1950's and has darling vintage illustrations to go with the story of a boy who hurts his finger and runs home, and whose mom puts a band-aid on his 'injury' which (as we moms know) makes him feel all better.
As a result, whenever anyone he knows gets a boo boo, Dan doctors them up with band-aids. Even the family dog. As a result, his dad gives him the nickname, "Dr. Dan the Bandage Man".
In a stroke of pure brilliance, the publishers include a couple of brand new band-aids affixed inside the front cover of the book so that any little kids reading the story and needing to fix their own real or imagined boo boos have their very own band-aids at their disposal.
Judah spotted those immediately, and like Ralphie dreaming of his Red Rider BB Gun, he, too looked off into space, eyes aglow with all the possibilities of where he could use them.
I just looove those moments where you can totally see the wheels turning in their little minds.
But why is it that I can practically guarantee I'll find them stuck to a wall, or a fridge or grandma's bathroom door?
:: :: :: ::
For Jeff's birthday yesterday, I baked a really decadent birthday cake.
First, I baked a dark chocolate fudge layer cake. The filling was a homemade ganache or hot-fudge type mixture loaded with macadamia nuts, and the the cake was frosted with homemade chocolate caramel icing and garnished with even more macadamia nuts. Yummo.
It sat under the glass of our cake platter all afternoon, taunting us as we waited for the family dinner and dessert later that evening.
When I went to put candles in it later that evening, however, I noticed two very narrow prints on the outer edge of the cake...where one very little finger had gouged out a couple of samples of icing.
Hmmm...wonder who that was?
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Here We Go Again!
Our family loves dogs. Loves them.
Were it up to our boys, we'd probably have our very own pack of dogs running around out back wreaking havoc and digging up the garden.
Every person peddling pups outside of WalMart or the grocery store probably thinks when we stop to croon over their puppies that we'lltake one off their hands cave and adopt one of their (usually) pit-bull mix or Chihuahua mix puppies.
Not so. We've stuck to our guns.
Which, when Judah looks up with big pleading brown eyes and says, "When do I get my own puppy?" is a very hard thing to do.
Wewere suckered into fell for a cute puppy once, and found that (with that litter in particular, anyway) it just wasn't a good fit for our family.
The cute little puppy we enjoyed so much grew big and ornery and began to hurt our beloved Sharpei, Raisin. Literally nipping patches out of her fur. He'd also grown ungainly and routinely knocked Judah off his feet.
Our love of dogs prevented us from heartlessly dropping him off in the desert or taking him to the pound, so we found him another better home. One where he was spoiled rotten and actually grew to learn to do things like retrieve balls and obey commands, and lived the high life indoors on sofas and everything. What more could a dog ask for in life, right?
To help our boys adjust, they were granted visitation rights.
And when his new owner was away, Jericho even got to go take care of D.O.G. again.
It was really win-win for everyone involved.
The boys gradually grew to accept things and moved on.
When D.O.G. and his new owner moved out-of-State a couple of months ago, we thought that would be the last we'd ever see of him.
Perhaps I should clarify that I hoped it would be the last we would ever see of that dog. (I'm still suffering from a combination of mom-guilt and dog-guilt, for having found him a new home after the boys got so attached).
**sigh**
Well, tomy dismay the kids delight...he's baaaaaack!
Temporarily.
Supposedly.
Need I say, hopefully?
It was a long sad story, but suffice it to say, one of their new roommates was mean to D.O.G. when the owner wasn't around. Abusive, actually.
To the point where the poor dog now cowers around males.
Even I, who was so happy to see D.O.G. go, can't abide cruelty to animals.
Though it was probably mostly due to the fact that the new owner, who regards her dogs more as children than pets, was so grief-stricken (teary eyes will get me every time, I'm afraid) at having to find a safe-house for her beloved dog.
She made the long drive back here to farm out her two dogs to those who she knew she could trust to care for them while she finishes her lease and finds a suitable place of her own.
And so, for now, D.O.G. is back with us once again.
Aside from the fact that he sneaks indoors every chance he gets and has to be put back outside each time...things are going pretty well so far.
Raisin is enjoying the change of scenery in the front yard, where she reigns as queen of the soon-to-be grass-covered (it's newly planted and growing in quite nicely) yard, which she gets all to herself, only occasionally working herself into a lather barking at her nemesis through the dividing fences, and usually then only when one of us gets too close to 'the enemy'.
Sharpei's are fiercely loyal and protective of their people.
The boys, of course, are thrilled with our yard guest. They are no doubt already getting attached to the cur all over again, because in spite of D.O.G.'s fear of men, he still still trots happily around behind his old buddy Jericho. Just like the old days.
(Oh, the guilt!)
When Judah exclaimed to D.O.G.'s owner, "Thanks for giveen him back to us!", she replied rather defensively, "not forever...just for a little while!"
And those words are what I'm clinging to. That all this is just for a little while.
:: :: :: ::
Edited to add that D.O.G. only ended up staying with us a few days.
His owner found them a new home right away, and he is now ensconced on his sofa once again.
However, not even a week later, we found this little guy taking refuge under our truck.
He shied away from us, and in the 104 degree hot summer sun that day, I decided to just let him be, as he needed the shade and a cool spot to rest his paws.
After he'd had some food and drink, he moved along of his own accord to another lady down the block, who managed to reunite him with his owners.
All's well that ends well, as Ma Ingalls used to say.
Were it up to our boys, we'd probably have our very own pack of dogs running around out back wreaking havoc and digging up the garden.
Every person peddling pups outside of WalMart or the grocery store probably thinks when we stop to croon over their puppies that we'll
Not so. We've stuck to our guns.
Which, when Judah looks up with big pleading brown eyes and says, "When do I get my own puppy?" is a very hard thing to do.
We
The cute little puppy we enjoyed so much grew big and ornery and began to hurt our beloved Sharpei, Raisin. Literally nipping patches out of her fur. He'd also grown ungainly and routinely knocked Judah off his feet.
Our love of dogs prevented us from heartlessly dropping him off in the desert or taking him to the pound, so we found him another better home. One where he was spoiled rotten and actually grew to learn to do things like retrieve balls and obey commands, and lived the high life indoors on sofas and everything. What more could a dog ask for in life, right?
To help our boys adjust, they were granted visitation rights.
And when his new owner was away, Jericho even got to go take care of D.O.G. again.
It was really win-win for everyone involved.
The boys gradually grew to accept things and moved on.
When D.O.G. and his new owner moved out-of-State a couple of months ago, we thought that would be the last we'd ever see of him.
Perhaps I should clarify that I hoped it would be the last we would ever see of that dog. (I'm still suffering from a combination of mom-guilt and dog-guilt, for having found him a new home after the boys got so attached).
**sigh**
Well, to
Temporarily.
Supposedly.
Need I say, hopefully?
It was a long sad story, but suffice it to say, one of their new roommates was mean to D.O.G. when the owner wasn't around. Abusive, actually.
To the point where the poor dog now cowers around males.
Even I, who was so happy to see D.O.G. go, can't abide cruelty to animals.
Though it was probably mostly due to the fact that the new owner, who regards her dogs more as children than pets, was so grief-stricken (teary eyes will get me every time, I'm afraid) at having to find a safe-house for her beloved dog.
She made the long drive back here to farm out her two dogs to those who she knew she could trust to care for them while she finishes her lease and finds a suitable place of her own.
And so, for now, D.O.G. is back with us once again.
Aside from the fact that he sneaks indoors every chance he gets and has to be put back outside each time...things are going pretty well so far.
Raisin is enjoying the change of scenery in the front yard, where she reigns as queen of the soon-to-be grass-covered (it's newly planted and growing in quite nicely) yard, which she gets all to herself, only occasionally working herself into a lather barking at her nemesis through the dividing fences, and usually then only when one of us gets too close to 'the enemy'.
Sharpei's are fiercely loyal and protective of their people.
The boys, of course, are thrilled with our yard guest. They are no doubt already getting attached to the cur all over again, because in spite of D.O.G.'s fear of men, he still still trots happily around behind his old buddy Jericho. Just like the old days.
(Oh, the guilt!)
When Judah exclaimed to D.O.G.'s owner, "Thanks for giveen him back to us!", she replied rather defensively, "not forever...just for a little while!"
And those words are what I'm clinging to. That all this is just for a little while.
:: :: :: ::
Edited to add that D.O.G. only ended up staying with us a few days.
His owner found them a new home right away, and he is now ensconced on his sofa once again.
However, not even a week later, we found this little guy taking refuge under our truck.
He shied away from us, and in the 104 degree hot summer sun that day, I decided to just let him be, as he needed the shade and a cool spot to rest his paws.
After he'd had some food and drink, he moved along of his own accord to another lady down the block, who managed to reunite him with his owners.
All's well that ends well, as Ma Ingalls used to say.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
It's My Birthday...It's My Birthday...
Hey, in case you missed it in the title of my post...IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!
Pretty subtle, huh?
I had to post real quick because I still haven't heard from my mom and thought I'd razz her a bit. She, of all people, should remember this day which occurred nearly 4 decades ago, lol.
Anyway, just dropping in to let everyone know that I'm sort of in unplugged mode (by default, as my computer has crashed). I have only very limited access to my husbands laptop. I'm not able to load or access photos on it so the posts are picture-less and thus rather lackluster for the time being.
I'm getting desperate enough that I may just have to tutor myself on how to set up the whole mobile phone-to-blog posting option. Any advice on this would be ever-so-gratefully accepted, as I'm having serious blogging withdrawls!
I am still taking lots of photos and have a whole slew of posts planned for the days when I get my new computer up and running...which I hope is very soon.
For now, we're just enjoying some relaxing low-key family time while the fam is off-track from school. Our neighbor was kind enough to give us a standing invitation to use her very infrequently used pool any old time we want, just letting ourselves in the side gate. In 108 degree desert temps, this is a real blessing!
Hope to be up and running normally around the 23rd or so!
Well, I'm off to blow out my many candles...let's hope the place doesn't go up in smoke, lol.
Oh, and here I was at my birthday lunch with friends, holding our friend's cutie-patootie little baby Micah. He is the HAPPIEST little baby ever...always smiling, cooing and giggling. And so squeezy.
Pretty subtle, huh?
I had to post real quick because I still haven't heard from my mom and thought I'd razz her a bit. She, of all people, should remember this day which occurred nearly 4 decades ago, lol.
Anyway, just dropping in to let everyone know that I'm sort of in unplugged mode (by default, as my computer has crashed). I have only very limited access to my husbands laptop. I'm not able to load or access photos on it so the posts are picture-less and thus rather lackluster for the time being.
I'm getting desperate enough that I may just have to tutor myself on how to set up the whole mobile phone-to-blog posting option. Any advice on this would be ever-so-gratefully accepted, as I'm having serious blogging withdrawls!
I am still taking lots of photos and have a whole slew of posts planned for the days when I get my new computer up and running...which I hope is very soon.
For now, we're just enjoying some relaxing low-key family time while the fam is off-track from school. Our neighbor was kind enough to give us a standing invitation to use her very infrequently used pool any old time we want, just letting ourselves in the side gate. In 108 degree desert temps, this is a real blessing!
Hope to be up and running normally around the 23rd or so!
Well, I'm off to blow out my many candles...let's hope the place doesn't go up in smoke, lol.
Oh, and here I was at my birthday lunch with friends, holding our friend's cutie-patootie little baby Micah. He is the HAPPIEST little baby ever...always smiling, cooing and giggling. And so squeezy.
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